Kicking around ideas / giving bad ideas a kicking

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state

Sosialismi.net publishes Paul Cockshott’s talk on Ideas of Leadership and Democracy that was given at the Socialistiskt Forum organised in Stockholm on 27 November 2010. In the first part of the talk Cockshott deals with the traditional conceptions of democracy on the left, and argues that the now commonly held aims of parliamentary republic and soviet republic are inadequate and don’t meet the needs of the working class. Instead he favours direct democracy, which he says corresponds to the original Athenian idea of democracy before its meaning became transformed to be synonymous with parliamentarism. In the latter part of his talk Cockshott deals with concrete questions concerning the first steps of the transition to socialism in present-day European Union. Finally, he answers some of the questions from the audience. Continue reading “Paul Cockshott: Ideas of Leadership and Democracy”→

I am not an expert on the state, the concept of the state or the historical lineages of the State, but I have an understanding of how poorly the North American Communist left understands the state. No, I’m not an expert, but I figure that my ability to read chapter books without any pictures whatsoever (!) provides me with an ability to learn the material enough to make bold claims about the nature of state power. Recently, Charles Bettelheim, author of the multivolume series Class Struggles in the USSRtaught me a few basic, but subterranean, lessons about the nature of state power. Continue reading “I Read Charles Bettelheim. What Happened Next Will Shock & Amaze You!”→